Diffusion Gels on Flos

[Dave Dodds]

In most pictures I see of video guys using Divas and Caselites, i see cloth-like diffusion (like the Flozier or whatever Kino Flo calls it) clipped or wrapped around the lights. Is there any reason why I don't see diffusion gels clipped to the barndoors of these fixtures? I'm purchasing a Caselite and I was curious as to what kind of accessories I should get - if I need that diffusion cloth or not. I'm a fan of the quality 216 (clipped to the doors of my Pro or Omni lights or in a big frame) but is there a reason not to use this on a flo?

Thanks.

~~Dave

[Nino Giannotti]

I use Tough Spun on the Caselights and works well. You don’t really need any accessories for the lights, I’m not even sure that there are accessories available.

[Dave Dodds]

I'm a huge fan of your site. That's actually what I was mostly referring to. The material on your Caselites (they're the Caselite 4 models, right?) seems to be some sort of fabric. I've got some Tough Spun but it's a gel and a B&H search yields nothing that looks like what you're using. What exactly do you have clipped to those lights?

~~Dave

[Tom Wills]

I just looked through my Roscolux swatchbook, and Roscolux 105 is a tough spun that is fabric-like. What you're describing seems more like a 111 or something of those lines, not an actual "tough spun".

[Dan Brockett]

Hi Dave:

Your Tough Spun is a gel? Tough Spun should look like fiberglass sheeting, sort of hairy, not a gel.

I use grid cloth on my Diva 200s. Works great for most situations. I just use C-47s and clip it to the edge of the light. Easy.

Dan

[Nino Giannotti]

Rosco has many “Tough” filters and gels, http://rosco.com/us/filters/roscolux.asp I have no clue of what many of these are but only a few are Tough Spun, maybe this is the source of the confusion.

I bough a roll of Tough Spun probably 15 years ago and I keep cutting pieces as I need them, that’s an endless roll, that stuff last forever.

Also going back to your original question. I own both the Divas and the Caselights, I prefer working with the Caselight when I need more control; the traditional barndoors design allows more choices for diffusions and more control of the light. The Caselight also has clips that allows you to place diffusion material right against the bulbs. I have pre-cut several gels to fit these lights. Of course the greater the distance between the diffusion material and the light source (bulbs) the better the diffusion, this is why is better to place the gel on the barndoors. You can also open the barndoors beyond the size of the light and then place the Tough Spun, this will effectively increase the size of the light source as much as 50% thus also increasing the wraparound effect.

Of course by placing the diffusion material on the Barndoor you effectively eliminate the purpose of the barndoors, we can talk how to resolve this little problem once you get there.

[Ralph Keyser]

The cloth diffusion is nice since it just pops over the light like a shower cap, yet folds very compactly for storage. I like the results, but it is a very heavy diffusion, so I more often end up clipping things to the "doors" on the Diva. The Diva has a frame for attaching gels next to the tubes, but as Nino pointed out, there's not much advantage in using diffusion there and I only use it for color.
Personally, I think you see the cloth diffusers in pictures simply because it looks neater for the catalog shots :)

Oh, as I have heard it, Rosco's "Tough" designation just indicates a higher tolerance for heat. So while they make both a "Spun" and a "Tough Spun", the tough spun handles high heat better.

[Steve Oakley]

tough spun is junk. it should be called white scrim because thats what it does. it cuts the light far more then other diffusion materials, and is nasty to work with. there is nothing good I can say about it.

diffusion is a function of the size of your light source in relation to the size of the subject. the bigger your source, the more diffuse it is. a hunk of 251 clipped on the doors will very well to spread the source size while not losing as much light. something to keep in mind when doing 5600k next to a window. if thats not enough then 250 if you must, and don't mind the light loss.

[Richard Andrewski]

Actually, the best stuff to use for those times you just need some smoothing and not too much diffusion is cracked ice or prismatic translucent styrene diffusion panels like those used in commercial fluorescent fixtures. This material is fairly heat resistant and is very thin so can usually slide in the adapter of many fluorescent fixtures. You can get these sheets at Home Depot in the acoustic ceiling tile department and cut them to size with a razor knife.

[Charles Papert]

I'm with Steve on this. Tough spun is truly old-school, it has long been supplanted by more efficient forms of diffusion and I haven't seen it used on set for many years. Look to the white diffusion series 216, 250, 251 (those are Lee numbers) and also light grid cloth for softening the output of a fluorescent.

If you own the flos, you can pre-cut pieces of diffusion and reinforce the edges with tape (the grid cloth will last a lot longer than the other types) and put velcro on top and bottom with matching tabs on the barn doors of the instrument which will aid in attaching and removing the diffusion without having to resort to clips. The number of times I've had Kinos just above the frame and then discovered the clothespins sticking down into the shot--groan.

[Mark Sasahara]

Yeah, I'm not a Spun fan. Although it works remarkably well on smaller, hotter MR16 lights. Tough Spun smooths out the beam and cuts the output. I used to assist a friend who shoots architecture (stills) and whenever there were MR-16's in shot, which was often, I put a layer, or two of tough Spun inside the fixture. Since it's fiberglass, it doesn't melt. Well, it does, it just takes a while longer than polyester based diff.

Funny I've been thinking about using J-Lar tape to reinforce my precut Kino gels and then use sticky back velcro to mount it to the doors. Now that I've got some downtime, I should probably do that. Ugh, that means I also have to clean and organize my storage units. I now have way too much crap for my current space.